wcreed51 wrote:Why use VE? Just select VSL SE Pro instruments. You will instantiate an instance VI Pro for each staff. Much simpler...

All due respect to Bill, there are some definite advantages to using Vienna Ensemble. For example, I use VE to build sections and ensembles using Dimension Strings. I can have a staff for Violins I, for instance, that has many instruments in it (see screen shot attached). I have one instrument for each divisi group, that routes to a single bus for the Unison sound (this "instrument" is actually made up of 8 different sampled instruments in the Vienna Pro "Instrument"), soloists, etc. I assign these to different midi channels for that VE instance and then I can use the instrument assignment function in Notion to change on the same staff between Uni, Div, Solo, etc. I also have effects just on the Violins I for EQ and sound shaping.

I do this for all the main sections (each String section, Brass, Winds, Percussion, etc). I can also control panning and routing to MIR Pro more effectively this way. All of this gives you a finer granularity of control than you can get with Notion and the rather limited mixer capabilities that comes out of the box.

Granted this all comes at the expense of simplicity, but I really enjoy the tools that VE gives me for creating multiple bus subsections on each VE mixer, routing effects and interface with MIR Pro.

Thanks for sharing how you work WITH Vienna Ensemble. Maybe at some point later I can graduate to doing it that way. I still haven't been able to figure out why Notion 4 on my PC isn't generating a Vienna Ensemble instance when I click "Empty Ensemble." There's gotta be a reason, I just have no idea what it is.

DaddyO, it does seem overwhelming at first. I remember I struggled with it for a week or so to try to figure out how to make things work. I'm on Mac, so I can't help you with your exact issue, but I do remember I had to be sure to use the button for VSL Special Edition (NOT VSL Special Edition PRO), Special Staff, Empty Ensemble. It took me a while to figure that one out.

So you use the transposition trick. I'm familiar with that using Cubase. How do you handle that in Notion?I hadn't noticed the Second Violins patches in VI Pro 2 referred to by the responder in that thread. I just looked and I don't find any.

DaddyO wrote:So you use the transposition trick. I'm familiar with that using Cubase. How do you handle that in Notion?I hadn't noticed the Second Violins patches in VI Pro 2 referred to by the responder in that thread. I just looked and I don't find any.

What about you, idiotSavant?

I use Dimension Strings. Since the samples are all of individual instruments it's not an issue.